American filmmakers have long been attracted to politics. From "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "All the King's Men" to "Wag the Dog" and "Milk," directors and screenwriters have found fertile material in the turmoil of the political arena. Often they tackle their subjects head on, preferring facts and history to metaphor and fiction.

This country's playwrights, on the other hand, have no such track record. Plays such as "Angels in America" and "The Laramie Project" are imbued with politics but not driven exclusively by them at the thematic level.

Regarding the geopolitical upheavals and pitched ideological battles of the last decade, American theater's most prominent voices have been unusually quiet. There is no domestic equivalent to British playwright David Hare's ambitious, sprawling indictment of the Iraq War, "Stuff Happens." And there are no present-day political polemicists in the mold of Clifford Odets or Marc Blitzstein.

"I found myself having to grope in the dark for a way into this subject," said Jon Robin Baitz, whose politically charged play "Other Desert Cities" opens Dec. 9 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. (It made its debut early last year in New York and later played on Broadway; both productions were highly praised.)

Baitz agreed that American dramatists often shrink from addressing politics directly. He thinks that America's jagged post-millennial political landscape has imprinted itself in a more abstract way on younger American playwrights, among other artists.

"I think there's an entire checklist of subjects and events that have quietly embedded themselves in the minds of emerging writers. Most of these are variations on the theme of betrayal."

On one level, Baitz's play about an affluent Southern California family at war with itself is an investigation of modern conservatism and its discontents. The action is set in 2004, the same year that Hare's "Stuff Happens" debuted and a pivotal point in the Iraq War, when revelations about sanctioned military torture at Abu Ghraib undermined America's sense of a moral high ground.

"In 2004 I think America's conservatives were imagining a long and unquestioned period of power. But they didn't realize that there were deep problems within the fortress. The interest rate on that denial was building up massively into a kind of huge psychic debt."

But the problems that appeared in 2004 didn't cause American conservatism to change course, Baitz said. "I don't think the moment of crisis was reached until three weeks ago, actually."

'A PROFOUND MOMENT'

Baitz's story unfolds over the Christmas holiday in the Palm Springs home of Lyman and Polly Wyeth, a retired couple who enjoyed successful careers in both Hollywood and the Republican Party. (The title refers to a sign on the eastbound I-10, referring to the cities beyond Palm Springs.)

Their daughter Brooke, visiting after a six-year absence, lets her parents read a soon-to-be-published manuscript about a tragic chapter in the family's history that concerns the radicalism of the late 1960s and its effect on Brooke's older brother. Polly's sister Silda, a Kennedy-era liberal, is also visiting.

The sparks fly as old wounds are reopened and opposed ideologies clash.

Director Robert Egan sees a strong parallel between the tensions within the Wyeth clan and the fracture lines that have divided the nation.

"I think, and I know Robbie agrees, that we're at a profound moment in American history. There's polarization in the family and in the country, but it's deeper than politics. There's an extreme dishonesty on both sides about how we address this fissure. And that is what Robbie is brilliant at exploring."

Baitz identifies with all his characters and treats them with equal respect.

"They're all me; it's me looking at different parts of myself: The complacent snob, the fiercely protective person, the wrecked hipster, the overly earnest person who believes in art and in her own absurd importance."

Baitz takes a withering look at liberal as well as conservative excesses. "Silda is my attempt to meditate on what happened to the unreconstructed '60s and '70s left. I have noticed that liberal pieties break down very easily – just as easily as conservative pieties."

And Baitz doesn't demonize the elder Wyeths. They live in a world of wealth and privilege but are aware of its inequities.

"The ability to look the other way is a great luxury. I wanted to write about people for whom that luxury was becoming more and more expensive, and they are beginning to sense the consequences."

Robert Foxworth and Robin Weigert in “Other Desert Cities” at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum. Directed by Robert Egan, Jon Robin Batiz's politically infused drama opens Dec. 9. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Robert Foxworth and Robin Weigert in “Other Desert Cities." CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Robin Weigert and JoBeth Williams in “Other Desert Cities." On one level, Jon Robin Baitz's play about an affluent Southern California family at war with itself is an investigation of modern conservatism and its discontents. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Robin Weigert and Michael Weston in “Other Desert Cities." The action is set in 2004, the same year that Hare's “Stuff Happens” debuted and a pivotal point in the Iraq War, when revelations about incidents at Abu Ghraib undermined America's sense of a moral high ground. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Robin Weigert and Michael Weston in “Other Desert Cities." Baitz's story unfolds over the Christmas holiday in the Palm Springs home of Lyman and Polly Wyeth, a retired couple who enjoyed successful careers in both Hollywood and the Republican Party. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Robin Weigert and Jeannie Berlin in “Other Desert Cities." The title refers to a sign on the eastbound I-10, referring to the cities beyond Palm Springs. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Jeannie Berlin and JoBeth Williams in “Other Desert Cities." Director Robert Egan sees a strong parallel between the tensions within the Wyeth clan and the fracture lines that have divided the nation. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Michael Weston and JoBeth Williams in “Other Desert Cities." Playwright Jon Robin Baitz takes a withering look at liberal as well as conservative excesses in the play. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
The cast of the Mark Taper Forum production of Jon Robin Baitz's "Other Desert Cities" confers with their director, Robert Egan, left. It opens Dec. 9. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Playwright Jon Robin Baitz and performer Jeannie Berlin at rehearsal for “Other Desert Cities.” Directed by Robert Egan, previews for “Other Desert Cities” began Nov. 28. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Cast member Jeannie Berlin pauses during a rehearsal for "Other Desert Cities" at the Mark Taper Forum. “I found myself having to grope in the dark for a way into this subject,” said playwright Jon Robin Baitz. CRAIG SCHWARTZ
Cast members Robin Weigert and Robert Foxworth during a rehearsal for "Other Desert Cities." Playwright Jon Robin Baitz said Weigert's audition for the role of Brooke Wyeth "was a long, page-by-page presentation by Robin about how she would approach the role. I leaned over to (director Rober Egan) and said, 'As soon as she stops talking, tell her she's got the part.'" CRAIG SCHWARTZ

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